This special unabridged, multivoiced production of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of nineteenth-century Gothic horror is narrated by film and television star Anthony Heald, joined by Grammy winner Stefan Rudnicki and actor Simon Templeman, under the direction of award-winning audio producer Yuri Rasovsky.
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist, is consumed by a fanatic desire to create a living being. He fashions an eight-foot creature and succeeds in animating him but, horrified by his visage, perceives his creation to be a monster and frightens him away. The monster, wandering in search of human companionship, is spurned and repulsed by all he approaches and learns to hate and to kill. He confronts his maker with a terrible choice: unless Frankenstein creates for him a mate, he will go on a rampage of destruction.
A subversive tale about the corrupt tendencies in humanity’s most “civilized” ambitions, this haunting thriller, the original science fiction novel, maintains its hold in the collective imagination centuries after its first publication.

Summary

Summary

This special unabridged, multivoiced production of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of nineteenth-century Gothic horror is narrated by film and television star Anthony Heald, joined by Grammy winner Stefan Rudnicki and actor Simon Templeman, under the direction of award-winning audio producer Yuri Rasovsky.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist, is consumed by a fanatic desire to create a living being. He fashions an eight-foot creature and succeeds in animating him but, horrified by his visage, perceives his creation to be a monster and frightens him away. The monster, wandering in search of human companionship, is spurned and repulsed by all he approaches and learns to hate and to kill. He confronts his maker with a terrible choice: unless Frankenstein creates for him a mate, he will go on a rampage of destruction.

A subversive tale about the corrupt tendencies in humanity’s most “civilized” ambitions, this haunting thriller, the original science fiction novel, maintains its hold in the collective imagination centuries after its first publication.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“It is a mistake to read Frankenstein as a modern novel of psychological realism…Where Dracula and other conventional Gothic works are fantasies, with clear links to fairly tales and legends, and even popular ballads, Frankenstein has the theoretical and cautionary tone of science fiction.”
—Joyce Carol Oates

“The quest of a solitary and ravaged consciousness first for consolation, then for revenge, and finally for a self-destruction that will be apocalyptic, that will bring down the creator with his creature.”
—Harold Bloom

“A vibrant rendition of a tragic story.” —AudioFile

“A subtle and ironic prophecy that raises the question of who exactly is the real monster in this story.” —Jesse Larsen, 500 Great Books by Women

Reviews

Reviews

by Lara9/13/2017

Overall Performance

Narration

Story

Beautifully read

A beautifully read audiobook. I had tried reading this on my own before and found it plodding, but listening to it read by the actors truly brought the story to life for me. Their voices embodied the characters and story wonderfully.

by Mark9/13/2017

Overall Performance

Narration

Story

Movie is better

This is one of those RARE times when a movie is better than the book. I think it's the style of writing that was popular at the time, but I was bored after chapter 8, and that is when I should have been getting pulled in.

by Alan19/13/2017

Overall Performance

Narration

Story

A Better Reading than most.

Unlike some versions of this on audio, this reading features not just one actor reading, but three reading the story. This makes it a lot more interesting for the listener. What a story it is too. This makes most movie versions pale into complete insignificance.

by John Dodds9/13/2017

Overall Performance

Narration

Story

A great performance of a classic

I've never read Frankenstein, though always meant to. So it was a treat to hear it in audio format. A truly excellent production all round, with terrific performances. The story was not at all what I expected. I've never seen a filmed production that's anything like it. The ending surprised me, even though I knew broadly what it was going to be - there were layers to it of which I had been unaware. Kudos to everyone involved in this great production.

by Holly9/13/2017

Overall Performance

Narration

Story

A well-cast classic

I sought this book out after college, as it was one of the classics I had “escaped” reading in school and I was curious, and I daresay I enjoyed it, which was a pleasant surprise. I actually felt an attachment to some of the characters, and I sympathized with the “monster’s” plight. Unlike some classics, the antiquated language doesn’t choke the story. It is very well-written.

I really liked the casting for this audiobook. All three narrators read their parts well, and the use of several different voice actors really helps draw you into the book. There are some voice actors who excel at doing different voices, but there’s really no substitution for actually having different voices.

Author

Author Bio: Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (1797–1851), née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, was born in London, the second daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, well known feminist, philosopher, educator, and writer, and William Godwin, famous English philosopher, novelist, and journalist. She was best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, written when she was eighteen and published when she was twenty-one. She was married to the Romantic writer Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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